How to turn anybody into a hand-drawn character - including yourself

Characters breathe life into any drawing, so let's learn a simple technique to draw them.

If you are into illustrated journalling, you probably want to draw from your life. And you know what’s in your life? People!

Many of us are unhappy with the way we draw people, so instead we shy away from that. But characters make our drawings more engaging and fun to look at, plus it’s easier to tell our stories if we include them. Let me show you a simple technique I like to use to draw characters in my illustrated journal.

That’s simple enough, right? Now let’s see how I can use this technique to turn Mark from Severance (an awesome show if you ask me) into a character

Now it’s your turn. Use this same technique to turn yourself, your family, or your friends into illustrated characters. Let me show you my version with my family.

Once you have the basics down, you can experiment with ways to draw that feel the best to you. Maybe you feel like other nose shapes come more naturally, or you prefer larger mouths or bigger eyeballs. Feel free to try out as many things as you like until you come to a version that feels authentic. It’s also a good idea to look at how other people draw characters to get inspiration.

The more you draw, the more your hand will know how to draw people and faces and soon enough, it’s going to feel like second nature.

Good luck and enjoy - Zsofi